Didn’t, and couldn’t, happen. Sorry. You can’t get the right Methane: Oxygen ratio from shit.
the methane didn’t come from the shit…didn’t you read the article?
no…
Re: explosive ****
mythbusters did this once and found that it wouldnt work 
If Mythbusters did it and proved it, then I have no doubt. Jaime and uh, that other guy disproved it, I wholeheartedly approve
So according to the article:
“Jenkins is a North West Fuels Development methane power plant operator. He entered a portable toilet, sat down and tried to light a cigarette. When he struck the lighter, the toilet exploded.”
The guy’s a methane plant operator and chooses to smoke in a porta-potty. Too bad he’s alive to sue…would have been much more fitting to present him with a Darwin Award.
I predict it is only a matter of time.
From the article (which was very short, BTW), it sound like the guy could actually have a case. It sounds like there are two basic things in his favor:
- Contractor setting up port-a-potty on top of methane pipe(s)
- Causing damage to said pipes when erecting port-a-potty (or erecting on top of pipes that were already damaged)
Of course you have to also consider a methane power plant worker lighting up a cigarette in an enclosed space, when he may have been aware of the pipe located underneath.
So he could actually win the $10 million, or a judge could tell him to count himself lucky to be alive and to think a little harder about where he lights up!
If someone can win a suit against McDonald’s because the coffee was hot, this guy’s got a pretty good chance of winning his case, too.
But where was the Porta-Potty? On site at the methane plant? Off-site? If it was a methane production facility, I imagine the company had some pretty strict policies against smoking.
How familiar are you with the details of this case, Bruce, and its ultimate disposition?
Not familiar at all. Just hearsay.
This story reminds me of this joke (second one on the page)
In the UK, gas is scented so that people are aware of gas leaks, does that not happen in the US as well?
Our gas is scented, too.
We also put our pants on one leg at a time. 
eh?!? I’m a bit slow this evening…
I was just wondering how he failed to notice that the portaloo smelt of gas.
Reminds me of a Darwin award for a fellow who attempted to see how much gas he had in his car by unscrewing the lid and using a match to look inside…
Methane isn’t as stinky… so I suppose if a smoker smokes comfortably in a bathroom that would end the thought.
I wonder how it will end?
Some of those smell really bad if not maintained.
So, I believe he may not of smelled the methane over the ‘other’ smell.
Here’s another …
THURMAN, N.Y. - A tip for would-be gasoline thieves. When stealing gas in the dark, don’t use a lighter to see how you’re doing. Police in Warren County say that’s what Glen Germain Junior did when he was siphoning gas from a dump truck at a business in the Adirondacks last month.
The sheriff’s department says Germain was transferring the fuel from the truck to a gas can when he used a lighter to see how full the container had become.
That sparked a fire that caused minor burns to his face and hands. The fire spread to a nearby forklift, which was destroyed in the blaze.
Germain has been charged with petit larceny and criminal mischief.
The arrest was Germain’s second in a month for stealing gasoline from businesses in the town of Thurman, about 65 miles north of Albany.
Thats what he gets for smoking cigarettes…
Well this gas is going through a plant so it may not be scented. He over all isnt very bright most people where a work in the car service area dont smoke in the building at all. That man in his buisness should give up smoking.
it just proves that smoking is bad.